Tracking the location of your devices

To view the location of your devices, the Geolocation Tracking policy needs to be activated in one or more policy groups and the devices must meet the system requirements.

The location of a stolen device is not shown in the console. After the device's theft investigation is closed, the device's current location becomes available.

The Secure Endpoint Agent detects and uploads location information at different intervals depending on the device's platform type. Learn more

To see when a device's location was last uploaded, use Edit Columns to add the Geolocation Tracking > Last data received column to a page or report.

After you activate the Geolocation Tracking policy, it may take up to 24 hours for your active device's location information to be available in the Secure Endpoint Console. For offline devices, their location won't be available until they come online and check in to the Absolute Monitoring Center.

On any page that shows the following icon in the page's toolbar, you can switch from grid view to map view to see the geographical location of your devices:

Each time a console user accesses map view, a Map view accessed event is logged to Event History. If desired, you can use this event to track a user's access to sensitive device data.

This icon is available in most views in the Devices area and in most reports.

Depending on your Absolute product licenses and the configuration of your account, the icon, and therefore map view, may not be available.

To view the location of your devices:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console as a user with View permissions for Geolocation.
2. Open a page or report that shows devices in a grid. For example, open the All Devices page in the Devices area or open the Makes and Models report.

3. Click to switch from grid view to map view. You can work with the map in the following ways:

   Action	Details
   Go to a particular location	Begin entering the city, state, province, or country name in the Search for a location field near the top of the map. You can also search by street address or building name. From the list of options that shows, select the applicable location. The map refreshes to show that location. If you entered a street address or building name, use one of the Zoom in actions to zoom in from city-level view to address level view. Depending on the permissions associated with your role, you may not be able to zoom in beyond city-level view.
   Search for a particular device	Enter all or part of the keyword in the field above the map and click Search or press Enter. The map refreshes to show updated markers .
   Filter the devices shown on the map	Click the icon next to the page's existing filters and add one or more filters.
   Zoom in	Do one of the following: With the mouse pointer on the map, rotate the wheel button on your mouse upward. Double-click the map location that you want to zoom in to. Double-click a marker to zoom in and view the location of the devices represented by the marker. Click the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right of the map. To view a different area of the map after you've zoomed in, drag the map until the desired area is in view. Depending on the permissions associated with your role, you may not be able to zoom in beyond city-level view.
   Zoom out	Do one of the following: With the mouse pointer on the map, rotate the wheel button on your mouse downward. Double right-click the map. Click the minus (-) symbol in the bottom right of the map.
   Remove all applied zoom levels and location filters	Click . The map reverts to the default zoom level.
   View details about devices in a particular location	Click a marker . The page refreshes to add a device report under the map. The report includes the device, or devices, represented by the marker. To resize the map to show more or less of the grid, drag the frame between the two areas. To manage the device grid's columns: Click to close the map. Click > Edit columns and add or remove columns as desired. Your edits are applied to the results grid in both grid view and map view. Click to return to map view. To view a device's Device Details page, including its Location History tab, click its device name. To perform an action on one or more devices in the report, select the checkbox next to each device and then click the applicable action button, such as Freeze or Run script. To close the device grid and return to full map view, do either of the following: Click the map. Hover over the frame between the two areas and click .
   Switch between Map and Satellite view	Click the applicable button on the Map | Satellite toggle.
   Show geofences on the map	Next to the Search field, click and select the Geofences checkbox. A  marker is added to the map for each geofence configured in your account. To search for a geofence, enter its name in the Search field and select it from the displayed list. To view a geofence, hover over its marker. The map shows all existing geofences, regardless of whether they are associated with a rule. Device markers are not clickable in Geofences view. To view device information, clear the Geofences checkbox to return to Devices view. Geofences are managed in Settings > Geofences. To view the rules associated with a geofence, go to the Geofences page.
   Refresh the map's data	Click (Refresh the page) in the page footer.
   Close map view	Click to close map view and return to the previous page or report.

Devices that show in grid view may not show in map view if:

• The devices are associated with a policy group in which the Geolocation Tracking policy is not activated.
• The devices have not checked in to the Absolute Monitoring Center since the Geolocation Tracking policy was activated.
• The device is reported stolen.

If only IP Locations are available for a device, one of the following conditions may apply:

• Geolocation technologies, or location settings or services, are turned off on the device

  For devices running Window 11, version 24H2 or higher, you can configure an account-level setting to temporarily enable Location Services. Learn more

• A Wi-Fi or GPS (Windows only) location is not available or invalid, and the OS location (Windows and Mac) setting is disabled in Settings > Account

• The device is a Mac device and a user is not logged in. Learn more
• The device is a Chromebook device and location access is turned off by the device user. Learn more

• The accuracy of the detected location is low.

  To view the detected accuracy, follow the steps in the next section.

To view information about the location of your devices:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console as a user with View permissions for Geolocation.
2. Open a page or report that shows devices in a grid. For example, open the All Devices page in the Devices area or open the Makes and Models report.

3. Click Edit Columns and add the following columns to the page or report:

   • Geolocation Tracking >

     • Last data received: the date and time when the device's location was last updated in the console

       At a minimum, this field is updated once a day when the daily scan occurs. For Windows and Mac devices, if the device changes its location between daily scans, the new location is promptly uploaded and this field is updated.

       If a device changes its location by less than 100 meters, the Last data received value is updated but no event is logged to the Events page.

     • Policy updated: the date and time when the Geolocation Tracking policy was activated or last updated

     • Status: the status of the Geolocation Tracking policy

       Possible values are Active, Inactive, Not Installed, Error, Unknown, and Unsupported.

   • Geolocation technology >

     • Accuracy: the estimated accuracy of the technology used to locate the device. Values are expressed in the measurement system set in your user profile. For example, a value of 40 ft indicates that the reported location is accurate to within 40 feet of the device's actual location.

     • Type: possible values are Wi-Fi, GPS, OS Location, and IP Location

       IP Location only applies when the IP location setting is enabled in Account settings.
       For Windows and Mac devices, OS Location only applies when the OS location (Windows and Mac) setting is enabled in Account settings.

       About geolocation technologies

     • Wi-Fi error: the detected reason that a Wi-Fi location was not available for the device, if applicable

   • Device location >

     • City
     • State/Province
     • Country
     If a icon shows in the City, State/Province, and Country columns:

     • The IP location setting is enabled for your account, and

     • The location is based on the device's public IP address. Location accuracy may be low.
   • Location (Latitude, Longitude)
     • Latitude and Longitude: the location coordinates of the device

To be automatically notified when a device moves to an unexpected location, create a Location rule. Rules allow you to specify the geographical locations where your devices can (or can't) reside. If a device moves unexpectedly, you are sent an email notification so you can take the appropriate action.

You can also create an Action rule based on device location.